Forum

A world-class programme of interactive debates exploring the key issues of the digital age. Informed opinion, expert speakers, international perspectives.

Our goal

Our goal in the Forum at ITU Digital World is to improve lives everywhere with meaningful, sustainable and trusted technology.

As part of the UN, we’re uniquely positioned to bring together a powerful combination of stakeholders from government and industry, emerging and developed markets to address fundamental tech-related issues.

Our focus is on connectivity, innovation and digital principles. Connectivity is key to accelerating social and economic development throughout the world. Innovation is essential to bring the benefits of connectivity to all sectors and areas of life. And we need digital principles to ensure the growing digital society is inclusive, beneficial and sustainable.

We believe that international and cross-sectoral collaboration is critical to achieving these goals.

This is the platform we offer in the Forum at ITU Digital World.

Our event participants are interested in the latest, most innovative connectivity solutions. They’re excited to showcase their innovative businesses. And they’re eager to discuss collaborative approaches to creating a fair, trusted and sustainable digital world.

Key Forum topics

Forum interactive debates focus on strategy, policy and technology around three central pillars:

Connectivity: policy, strategy and regulatory approaches to advance the deployment of connectivity – including new connectivity solutions to upgrade existing networks with faster and more reliable connections, establishing new connections in underserved or rural areas, or leapfrogging to the latest technological innovations and benefit from major tech breakthroughs.

Innovation: in connectivity, in policy making, in regulatory discussions or in the tech business in general – but always with positive social impact in mind.

Digital principles: technology in itself is neither good nor bad. We decide what to make of it. Digital has no borders, so international collaboration is the only way to make sure that the digital world we are creating benefits every human being on this planet.

Drivers of the digtial future: what motivates us to adopt new technologies?

Collaborating for a safe global cyberspace

The role and scope of new regulatory approaches

National broadband and gigabit strategies

Optimizing – and controlling – the use of AI and the data it generates

Driving sustainable ICT growth in emerging and developed markets, locally, nationally and internationally

Spectrum management

Building digital literacy, compelling local content and skills to thrive in the digital era

Supporting innovation hubs and SME growth

Greening the ICT sector​

Session formats

Keynotes

Thought-leadership and international perspectives at the highest level as leaders from public and private sectors share key messages and insights.

Panel sessions

Experts drawn from public, private and research sectors explore the core issues facing ICTs today from contrasting perspectives. Interactive, free of presentations or pre-set agendas and often passionate, panel sessions encourage contributions and questions from delegates on the stage and in the audience.

Partner sessions

Forum sessions or facilitated workshops organized by ITU but shaped by input and contributions from interested companies, associations or organizations.

Roundtables

Ministers, regulators or CEOs share experiences, success stories and case studies from the perspective of their countries or organizations to personal viewpoints and powerful insider insights on future directions within the ICT industry, kicking off debate at the highest level on policies, perspectives and best practices from across the globe.

As always, we attend ITU Telecom World in order to benefit from global best practices, find out what is going on in other economies, borrow from their experiences and also share our own ideas on how we deploy services in emerging technologies, AI, 5G, the Internet of Things. Coming here will enrich our experience on how best we are going to do this.

For us it’s an important event because we can have a dialogue of what’s needed to achieve the goals of 5G. It is important to have the dialogue we have with the governments, with the regulators, with the other stakeholders, because if we are to make 5G a success we all need to be a part of that game.

This is an excellent platform for the industry and all the sectors to come together and discuss, not only the operators and the manufacturers but also the service providers, the government and the regulators. They exchange views and create partnerships and synergies to make things happen.

Mario Maniewicz, Director, Radiocommunication Bureau, ITU

Meeting some brilliant people. It’s a great opportunity for ministers, CEOs, thought leaders to come together to thrash out some of the really challenging issues.

Professor Tim Unwin, Co-Founder, TEQtogether

For us it’s an important event because we can have a dialogue of what’s needed to achieve the goals of 5G. It is important to have the dialogue we have with the governments, with the regulators, with the other stakeholders, because if we are to make 5G a success we all need to be a part of that game.

Lise Fuhr, Director General, ETNO

I love these events because the ITU has been driving an agenda that is very familiar to GeSi, a kind of complementary agenda, it is now addressing more and more the societal dimension of technology, and that is the right way to go.

Luis Neves, CEO, Global e-Sustainability Initiative (GeSI)

This kind of event is critical, it brings like-minded people together at a senior level who really want to engage, you start very much on the same page and from there you can actually build those relationships and turn them into activities and projects. From our perspective it’s crucial.

Seek to participate in these discussions and gain insight into some of the opportunities that have been opened in a number of countries by certain companies - both the private sector and the ITU have very interesting discussions going on.

John Omo, Secretary General, African Telecommunications Union (ATU)

Conferences like this promote understanding between different peoples, different cultures, they are a very important component of a healthy international society. There is such a rich display of innovation and what is happening in terms of connectivity and telecoms around the world that there is always something to learn.

Francis Gurry, Director General, WIPO

Events such as this are very, very educative. Here is an international platform where we have government, international organizations, regulators, the private sector, all of us in the ecosystem, to come and think through how we can accelerate the agenda of using ICTs to improve lives.

Kofi Asante, CEO, Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication

ITU Telecom World has had historic success - it a great place to come and meet, and listen to and learn from, so many wise and well-travelled people.

I have had a spectacular time. The panels have been fascinating, really interesting and well put together, and having so many senior level government folks who are sharing their thoughts is invaluable. I was very excited to see when I walked around the exhibit floor how many countries are here so you can actually go and spend some time and talk with them.

This is a great event, ITU is the union for many countries, a lot of stakeholders, policy makers, regulators are here, and it is good to interact, see what is going on, and how to develop and contribute to those activities.

Khalid A. Balkheyour, President & CEO, ARABSAT

It is important because ITU offers us opportunities every year to meet other partners, exchange with other institutions to see where the world is going and what the world of tomorrow will be like. It is of enormous value .

Elie Ntihagowumwe, Directeur Général, Burundi Backbone System

This event is the platform to be able to talk to other leaders across the board. This is the platform where you meet the people who make the decisions that affect people that matter. Here is the place to be to speak to the right people to make connectivity happen.

Joel de Messan, Founder & Chairman, Equanet

It is a great event with great value for us and also for the industry. First, it is a show for the latest innovation, and also a platform so the private and public can have a very good dialogue, and this creates a very good environment for all of us for the industry to grow.

Edward Zhou, VP, Global Public Affairs, Huawei

It is always nice for the networking, but more importantly exchanging the way forward on 5G, what is available today and what will be available tomorrow, is very helpful and interesting at this event.

Marc Vancopponelle, Global Head of Government Relations, Nokia

It is really great to see how far the conversation has advanced and see the new technology on display as we talk about the policy issues and the regulatory issues advancing, so it’s great to be here at ITU Telecom World.

Jade Nester, Director of Consumer Policy, GSMA

We know that in ITU decision makers are coming from the government sector, the private sector and also minister level. So it will help us to understand what they are going to decide for the future so we can align ourselves and our companies with those rules and regulations they are introducing to the world.

Mohsen Abouei Mehrizi, Chairman of the ESM Telecommunication, IR

We have to respond to the opportunity that technology brings in South Africa and how do we collaborate, how do we cooperate.

Making connections, you hear from the best, you try to benchmark, you share experiences, you find where you have gaps so you can try to up your act so that you come up to the mark.

Nyombi Thembo, Director, Rural Development Fund, Rwanda

Networking and actually knowing the people that are legislating in another country and sharing informed discussions with people, policy makers and regulators, is the real value of conferences such as this.

Silvio Schembri, Minister for Financial Services, Malta

I believe that events like ITU Telecom are the most efficient platform for international collaboration and for networking. You can find decision makers from the whole spectrum of ICT in the same place, the right mix of decision makers and experts. I strongly believe that we cannot achieve much without collaboration and this event is a very useful tool to achieve this.

It is an extremely interesting platform where regulators, governments, private sector come together and share ideas. What is important is that everyone does not need to reinvent the wheel - so people should collaborate, learn, and benefit from each other’s experience, and that is the best value that this kind of platform offers.

Dr. R S Sharma, Chairman, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

It is critical for us to be here – we learn new things being done in other countries, we share our experiences with our colleagues, we meet companies with innovative products to sell, we meet leaders in the field and discuss emerging issues. ITU Telecom World has helped us develop many of the critical innovations that we are working on in Ghana.

Ursula G. Owusu Ekuful, Minister of Communications, Ghana

The value of attending is immeasurable. The most crucial thing is being exposed to the different perspectives, bringing together people from very diversified backgrounds, different countries, different organizations.

Petros Galides, Deputy Commissioner Electronic Communications, Cyprus

For us it is very important to attend this kind of event because we need to share information, to share knowledge, to be with the telecom family. It is very, very important. We are carrying to Angola a lot of information, a lot of business plans in terms of relationships with other companies.

Mario Oliveira, Secretary of State for Telecommunications, Angola

As always, we attend ITU Telecom World in order to benefit from global best practices, find out what is going on in other economies, borrow from their experiences and also share our own ideas on how we deploy services in emerging technologies, AI, 5G, the Internet of Things. Coming here will enrich our experience on how best we are going to do this.